The future is here

Servite College teacher James Maitland with John Lumagbas, Monique Jeleska and Matthew Bond and robots.Picture: The West Australian/Iain Gillespie

Technology is changing how we live and learn. From state-of-the-art classrooms with flexible seating to robots building homes, innovations are happening every day.

The 21st century has brought high-speed internet into homes. Wi-fi connection has replaced cables and bluetooth means we can fill a room with music without having to plug a device into a dock.

There’s no more going to the video library to stock up on DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. You can watch your favourite movies and shows on live streaming, such as Netflix, Stan, Foxtel Play and Dendy Direct. Just subscribe, click and watch.

TVs are flatter, flash storage is bigger and mobile phones get smarter every year, doubling as portable computers, media players and instant messengers.

We have more knowledge at our fingertips than ever before. Online resources have replaced encyclopaedias and social media keeps us connected round the clock.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat have changed how we communicate online, but also made cyber-bullying a reality because it’s hard to simply walk away.

Come with us as we talk to the experts about the tech takeover and get their their tips on how to make the most of it while staying safe in this brave new world.

This is way we go to school in 2022

The future of learning is amazing and scary. Teachers have always personalised tuition with individualised learning plans, but machine algorithms in the digital age will make it easier to keep track of every student’s progress in real time, just like your Fitbit does. That’s the difference. Daniel Groenewald, digital transformation consultant, takes us into the classroom of the future.

Your classroom will be more in tune with how you learn. It is more likely to resemble a hotel lobby than a room with desks. You will be able to walk around more, learn where you feel most comfortable and write on desks and walls. There will be couches, bean bags, funny chairs, display screens, computers and stand-up desks. There will be small stages for you to present to groups and spaces that you can work in by yourself.

More learning will happen outside your classroom. On a typical school day, you'll start learning when you wake up. a friendly voice that knows you well will wake you. This will be your personalised artificial intelligence — an important virtual learning assistant (VLA). Your VLA knows everything about your learning and can help you excel. It will even book tuition for you when you fall behind.

You will have a greater range of teachers. Apart from a physical classroom teacher who looks after you and manages your learning, you will also have online mentors and tutors. Each will help personalise your learning to make it interesting.

Take control: We must create a positive digital footprint.Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Your classroom will be everywhere. You will be able to scan the real world with your devices and get factual information about places and discoveries overlaid on the real world. You will be able to make things that you imagine. If you wanted to create a building in Minecraft and place it in the school yard, you could do that. You will wear visors that allow you to augment reality.

Typing is one way of telling a computer what to do, but by 2022, you will feel more comfortable using your voice to instruct your computer. Voice interaction will be easier and faster.

The emphasis on what you learn will change, too. There will be more emphasis on learning that is personal to you, projects you want to work on, solving problems, designing solutions and expressing yourself through visual mediums like film and websites. You will have to get better at solving problem than remembering everything.

More information at leadinglights.cewa.edu.au

Will we become slaves to our devices?Picture: Getty/Delaney Ruston

Daniel Groenewald’s cyber-safety tips

1. Create a positive digital footprint.

It's important to establish a positive online identity. Treat your online identity like a business card. It is your best foot forward.

2. Limit the number of "friends" you have.

Sharing your life with your friends is a great way to connect. But you like your friends because you know and trust them. Having a secure and reliable group of friends in your social networks is better than having many friends who may end up being careless with your feelings and privacy.

3. Automatically turn off notifications during sleep time.

Humans have an old reptilian brain that needs lots of sleep. If it doesn't get sleep, it gets stressed and unstable. Turning off notifications on devices ensures you get the sleep you need to be successful in life.

4. Don't say anything online that you wouldn't be confident saying in front of respected adults.

The online world is a permanent record. You do need to be careful about what you say. Don't comment if you are not making the world a better place.

5. Don't click on a deal that seems too good to be true.

Computer viruses that cause billions of dollars damage to companies are spread by people who click on things that look too good to be true. Don't open emails from people you don't recognise or deals that appear amazing.

6. Be a critical thinker.

Here’s a few basic questions to consider about your online behaviour: Is this a good way to spend my time? Should I care about what people I don't know think or say about me? Is this website saying what other trustworthy websites say? Who benefits from having this viewpoint?

Classrooms of the future are happening now

Programming robots and drones is all in a day’s learning for middle school students at Servite College, in Tuart Hill. Robots are used to teach coding and solve problems in the real world, such as handling hazardous waste.

Desks in new classrooms come in different shapes, sizes and configurations to encourage collaboration and good social skills — yes, that means talking to each other during lessons —and there is not necessarily a front row.

“It’s about flexibile spaces,” James Maitland, head of teaching and learning technologies, explains. “If you’re programming robots, you’re running around, so it doesn’t make sense to sit down. On the other hand, if you’re writing an essay, it does.”

Machine learning gets top marks

What will it be like going to university in 2025? University of WA cyber-security expert Dr David Glance explains it’s all about tailored learning to help students do their best.

It might seem like science fiction, but students at university will one day be automatically recognised and personally greeted by their personal digital assistant as they walk on to the campus. The assistant will know the student’s schedule and will be able to remind them that they have an assignment to submit by noon and a group tutorial to prepare for.

The student’s study program has been individually tailored to their specific learning style. The teaching staff also have this information and have used it to automatically generate a personalised set of assignments.

This future is being enabled through the growth of what is called machine learning — a type of artificial intelligence — and through access to enormous amounts of data and new techniques to analyse it all.

Of course, there are obvious precautions that will have to be taken around the privacy and security of systems such as these, but the ultimate benefit will be to allow more students to reach their maximum potential.

Tough call

It’s hard to imagine a world without mobile phones. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, but Reginald Fessenden made the first wireless phone call — transmitting the human voice via radio waves between two radio towers — in 1900.

The first mobile phone call was made in 1973, using a prototype Motorola handset that weighed as much as a bag of flour. In 1983, the first Motorola mobile phone went on sale. It cost more than $5000, had 30 minutes talk time, six hours standby and took 10 hours to charge.

Today, more people around the world have mobile phone than toilets.

Print it

3-D printing uses thousands of layers of material to create a three-dimensional object based on a template designed with a special computer program. Each of these layers is a thinly sliced horizontal cross-section of the eventual object. The applications are endless. You can 3-D print everything from coffee cups to jewellery and prosthetic limbs. China has already unveiled a 3-D printed house that took just 45 days to complete.

It was reported last year that a company in Beijing had put up a two-storey villa with thick, concrete walls using giant, computer-controlled 3-D printers. The job took just 45 days, from start to finish, with machines working non-stop.

A young boy is taught to use an earlier model of Eye Gaze.Picture: Independent Living Centre

Getting on top of disability

About 4.3 million Australians have a disability — and that includes 577,000 children and young adults aged up to 24. It can affect their education, so we asked the Independent Living Centre about the latest gadgets and aids that make learning easier. Here’s our top five:

The eyes have it: Tobii Dynavox I-12 and I-15 is a speech generating device that can be linked to an eye-gaze unit by someone with limited mobility to access computer programs using their eyes. Find it on NED (Australian National Equipment Database): ilcaustralia.org.au/products/18083

Smart glasses: OrCam MyEye is a wearable device with a smart camera that clips on to a regular spectacle frame. It can recognise text and read it out to you. It can also be programmed to recognise faces and announce familiar people, as well as objects in the home and in shopping aisles. Find it on NED: ilcaustralia.org.au/products/20920

Head control: QUHA ZONO Gyroscopic Air Mouse is a wireless device that can be clipped on to a pair of glasses, hat or headband to control the mouse on a computer screen by moving your head. Find it on NED: ilcaustralia.org.au/products/20337

Pen it: C-Pen Reader Pen is a portable, pocket-size device that scans text on a page and plays it out aloud. It can be listened to immediately or stored for uploading on to a computer later. It also records audio. Find it on NED: ilcaustralia.org.au/products/21034

Hold tight: JACO Robotic Arm can be attached to a powered wheelchair and operated with a joystick, chin control or head array to help perform various functions, including picking up things and eating. Find it on NED: ilcaustralia.org.au/products/17628

Driverless cars

The RAC’s fully electric Intellibus is Australia’s first automated vehicle trial and it’s happening on the South Perth foreshore now.

Cars with no drivers are the future of transport. The idea is that they will make roads safer for everyone because 90 per cent of accidents are caused by human error.

Alberto Amara, operations director of Collier Homes, with a DJI drone (which they use to keep clients updated on building progress).Picture: The West Australian/Daniel Wilkins

GET SMART

Collier Homes, one of WA’s oldest building companies, is keeping up with the times as technology opens new doors. It’s already using drones to keep track of construction. Operations director Alberto Amara tells us what the future holds.

What’s a smart home?

We’re talking about an ability to communicate and function — and it all revolves around the internet. It’s called the Internet of Things (IoT) and it will become mainstream in the next three to five years. Things in our households that have never traditionally been digital, such as doors, windows, lights and appliances, are now being embedded with electronics, software, sensors and actuators with internet connectivity. At the moment, it’s a sea of experiments and toys. The biggest problem is how to make all your smart items talk to each other harmoniously. This is where tech giants, such as Google and Apple, are pushing to find a common language. It’s the next great platform war.

How will homes be built in the next 10-20 years?

There’s pioneering work being done with robots 3-D printing concrete walls on site and laying bricks. But I believe there will be a trend towards off-site manufacturing, rather than robots replacing manpower. Off-site manufacturing will use new materials that are lightweight, energy efficient and have distinctive architectural appeal. It will make houses of the future more flexible in their living spaces.